Financial Literacy

I wanted to know where my money was going every month. I wasn't tracking spending, and I wanted to save as much money as possible, so I thought the best way to do that would be to analyze how much I make every month.

 

Steinert, who lives in Memphis, Tennessee, and is transitioning from a job as an analyst for FedEx to a job at a small freight company, became so confident in his budgeting that he shares a free budget template on his website, Budget And Invest. 
"I can play with the different amounts for months," Steinert says. "For example, in June there might be more traveling than in October, so I might allot more to travel and take away from groceries. It helps keep me accountable and make sure I'm not spending more than I make on a monthly basis."
Flexibility is a key factor of Steinert's budgeting approach. He says he checks in every day to enter payments into his Excel spreadsheet and to make sure the budget still balances.
Here, we've compared the budget he used for January 2014 with the budget he plans to use in January 2015.
Note that this budget was created from Steinert's take-home pay, meaning the money available after he pays taxes, contributes to a 401(k), and, in the case of 2014, pays for health insurance. While Steinert lives with his girlfriend, their finances are largely separate.
Here is how he budgeted his $4,837 of take-home pay in January of last year (that's $3,754 from his paycheck, and $1,083 from extraneous sources, such as a bonus or gifts). Amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar: